Researchers at the HUN-REN Biological Research Center in Szeged (HUN-REN BRC Szeged) have joined a major European research program that aims to break the cycle of recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) using a combination of phage therapy and gut microbiome restoration.
More than 400 million people worldwide experience UTIs each year, and for many patients the infections return repeatedly despite antibiotic treatment. As antibiotic resistance continues to rise, recurrent UTIs have become increasingly difficult to treat, prompting researchers to explore new therapeutic approaches.
The HUN-REN team is participating in REPhRAME, a Horizon Europe project coordinated by Frankfurt University Hospital (Universitätsmedizin Frankfurt), the Hungarian research center reported on its website. REPhRAME is one of three large-scale phage therapy projects that together have received more than €45 million in European Commission funding to evaluate whether phage therapy can become a safe and effective treatment for bacterial infections that are increasingly resistant to conventional antibiotics.
Phage therapy uses naturally occurring viruses, known as bacteriophages, that infect and kill specific bacteria.
Unlike broad-spectrum antibiotics, phages can target disease-causing bacteria while leaving much of the body’s beneficial microbiome intact.
REPhRAME focuses on recurrent UTIs caused by Escherichia coli (E. coli) and takes aim not only at the infection itself but also at one of the reasons it keeps coming back. Researchers believe that in many patients, disease-causing E. coli survive antibiotic treatment by persisting in the gut, allowing them to recolonize the urinary tract and trigger new infections. Repeated courses of antibiotics may further contribute to antibiotic resistance while disrupting the normal balance of the gut microbiome.
To address this, the researchers are testing a two-step treatment strategy. Patients first receive carefully selected bacteriophages designed to eliminate the disease-causing E. coli strains, followed by a microbiome restoration therapy intended to rebuild a healthy gut microbiome and reduce the likelihood of future infections. The approach will be evaluated in multinational clinical trials.
Since each bacteriophage is effective against only certain bacterial strains, selecting the right phages is critical to the success of the treatment.
That challenge is the focus of the Translational Microbiology Laboratory at HUN-REN BRC Szeged, led by Bálint Kintses. The team is developing computational and data-driven methods to predict which bacteriophages are most likely to work against specific bacterial strains, helping make phage therapy a more reliable and broadly applicable clinical treatment.
“One of the greatest advantages of phage therapy is its precision. When the right phages are selected, they specifically target disease-causing bacteria without broadly disrupting beneficial microbial communities. Achieving this requires a detailed understanding of phage-bacteria interactions. What makes the REPhRAME project especially exciting is that this knowledge will directly support a large European clinical trial,” said Kintses.
The five-year program began in June 2026. If the clinical trials confirm the safety and effectiveness of the approach, the findings could help reduce antibiotic use, lower the rate of recurrent infections, and support the broader adoption of phage therapy in clinical practice.
Related article
New Method for Detecting DNA Mutations Linked to Cancer and Alzheimer’s
In the long term, the new approach could contribute to developing more personalized treatments.Continue reading
Via MTI, Featured image: Pexels